A room for the night...

Has anyone been following the sort-of-new-theory that germ phobia contributes to allergy increases in industrialized nations?

Quoting myself there (couldn’t find a good one)…

Let me begin by pointing out that most people should not expect to (or want to) live in mini-America while traveling and there is a vast difference between a little dust and conditions that lead to gangrene.

My personal philosophy is a hotel/hostel room is somewhere to sleep. I don’t want to travel fourteen hours in coach to spend my valuable travel time watching HBO in my room, so my room requirements are not that high. It’s true that not everyone shares my views on what constitutes an acceptable room. Your choices will depend on what your budget is and how important the little luxuries are to you personally. For example: do you need towels, air conditioning, private bath, meals, or a window?

Don’t assume that because the room is far cheaper than what you can find at home that it’s not an acceptable establishment. A good place to start differentiating between the cheap places and the dumps is a good guide book. Cheaper hostels don’t always have websites which makes it harder to find them outside of books. 

A good place to look for a second and third opinions is Trip Advisor (www.tripadvisor.com). The prospective hotel’s website is not always a reliable place to find honest reviews. For example: Lovely hostel two blocks from the Zocalo, lovely complimentary reviews; it was the noisiest place I’ve ever stayed. The design of the building amplified noise and when the charming rooftop bar closed at 1 am you could hear all the intoxicated conversations that continued in the stairwell. I checked Trip Advisor when I got home and all the reviews mentioned the noise problem.

Things you might not think of:

• ·         Bedbugs have lately become an issue for travelers. They can be found at any budget level. It never hurts to check the mattresses for signs of bedbugs before you settle in. They don’t carry diseases, but they are very expensive to get rid of once you transport them home (I recently read that one pregnant female is all it takes to start a colony). I always check, but haven’t come across them myself yet.

• ·         Is there hot water for showers? (This may not be important in hot climates)
• ·         Are the electrical sockets usable? (I’ve seen a few squirrelly examples)
• ·         If you are self-catering, is there a kitchen available?
• ·         (From my own personal experience) Are there any resident roosters living next door?